Store windows filled with beautiful, vibrant dresses adorned with jewels. Upbeat, Bollywoodesque music emerging from a local restaurant. A stone, elephant statue welcoming people to authentic, Indian cuisine.
These are some of the sites and sounds of Little India. This unique part of the La Mirada-Norwalk area is located only about 20 minutes from Biola on Beach Boulevard. As the eventful Torrey Conference neared its end, students gathered by Flour Fountain to prepare for Biola’s very first Little India Prayer Walk. Local missions coordinators Ann Teichert and Michael Beatima organized this event as a time for students to pray for the country of India. After a week of on campus workshops and sessions, the prayer walk was a great time for students to take some of insights they gained and bring them to the community outside Biola.
Before heading off to Little India, students got a little taste of their destination as they ate samosas. These tasty Indian delicacies are fried pastries made with ingredients such as onions, potatoes and ground beef.
Once the students arrived in Little India, they split up in groups and walked to various locations throughout the neighborhood. At each stopping point, they bowed their heads and lifted up the country of India in prayer, interceding for the church, government and people.
Sophomore Brittany Teggler, co-leader with Jason Jesudasen of the 2014 SMU India interterm trip, was one of the students who attended the prayer walk. As the event was drawing to a close, Teggler explained the importance of praying for India.
“India is such a lost country and it’s so dark over there … it’s hard to be a Christian and I just feel like the church in general should support those who are not able to openly be Christians … ” she said.
How wonderful it was to see the students of Biola being obedient to the word of the Lord in 1 Timothy 2:1, which says, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”
As prayers were lifted up to India under a cloudless, California sky, Biola students’ love for the nations was beautifully displayed. After a week of learning about how God is with us, the Little India Prayer Walk demonstrated how “us” includes India and the rest of the world.
